SimplyWebHosting.com Advances $5/Month Virtual Private Server Tech

SimplyWebHosting.com, a brand of Advantagecom Networks, Inc., launched a server virtualization service that saves 89% versus similarly sized server virtualization services based on prior generations of hardware and software.

The Economy hwVPS or e-hwVPS, uses advanced storage and virtualization technologies to maximize the value delivered to the customer at the $5 per month price point. This marks a new low price entry point for web developers seeking a virtual server for their latest creation.

Andrew Kinney, Chief Technology Officer and President of Advantagecom Networks, Inc., says of the e-hwVPS: "What used to take 180 one rack unit servers due to limited computing power and software limitations of eight years ago, we can now do in a single server of one rack unit. This tremendous advance in computing power and efficiency can only be effectively harnessed by subdividing that powerful computer into smaller chunks we call virtual servers. Virtual servers are nothing new, but what the e-hwVPS does for you is it gives you two times the computing power seen just two years ago for about one tenth the price. This is a tremendous leap forward in value for the customer. It’s also good for the environment. Per unit of computing done, it takes one ninth the energy of eight years ago. A single e-hwVPS represents a 95% energy savings versus a physical system of similar specifications."

Andrew credits Advantagecom staff member Jonathan Kinney with the bulk of the automation programming and testing that has been done to keep costs low and maximize quality: "Jonathan has been instrumental in building and testing a new system to automate the most common operations. This frees up our technical support staff time so that we can focus on what’s really important – interaction with the customer."

While many of the details of how certain technologies are implemented in the service are proprietary, the list of technologies integrated into the service during more than a year of research and development is substantial. Advanced storage technologies in use are sparse block allocation to maximize efficiency of disk space usage, online storage volume growth to enable seamless storage size upgrades, online storage performance scaling to enable non-disruptive storage performance increases, storage compression to maximize storage usage and performance, block checksumming to ensure error free storage on low cost devices, and high-performance paravirtualized storage devices to maximize storage performance. The latest virtualization technologies, such as Xen paravirtualization and Intel VT-x and EPT found in the latest Xeon processors, minimize processing overhead and maximize CPU and memory performance.